Cheap and Good Bearings!

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Manolis said:
Is there any e-shop to sell ceramics for sizes that our rc's use?
Click to expand...
I buy mine from TRB RC. TRB doesn't carry any "kits" for Corally - you have to know the sizes and buy the bearings accordingly. They usually come in pairs. I've bought ceramic hybrid bearings for two Corally vehicles and two Arrma vehicles.
 
morrjr71 said:
I buy mine from TRB RC. TRB doesn't carry any "kits" for Corally - you have to know the sizes and buy the bearings accordingly. They usually come in pairs. I've bought ceramic hybrid bearings for two Corally vehicles and two Arrma vehicles.
Click to expand...
X2, I've used the trb and also winter evening ceramics, only ever used in brushless motors but seem to be doing well
 
Too bad JLCPCB Mechatronic Parts don't carry rubber sealed bearings. I buy their metal shielded ones for my helis and the prices cannot be beat between 10~25 cents per bearing. The only catch is shipping, you have to buy a lot all at once though the slow shipping is still pretty reasonable. Last time I made a purchase I spent around $45 and got over $200 worth of bearings if you consider $1 per bearing. This is for the "standard" quality bearings, they have even cheaper "economy" bearings but they will not guarantee manufacturer and tolerances for those.

EDIT: I forgot you can pop the metal shield out and replace them with the rubber ones from a old bearing so I'll start doing that. Only really have to do that on the outwards facing side of the bearing.
 
What are the pros of rubber?
Better "shielding"?
 
For me in the EU I can find multiple specialized bearing sellers that sell SKF for less then €1 a piece and others like ZEN for even less. But they are mostly catered to businesses so minimum quantities and/or processing fees make it expensive for me with 1 car. I just posted a question about this in the Arrmaforum and I got recommended modellbau-werkstatt.at which sells kits for a lot of models, at roughly €0,95 per bearing. I will probably go with that or I might try these AliExpress bearings.
 
I usually buy my bearings from Modellbau-Werkstatt.at. Mostly the Arrma drive train sets that have the inner and outer wheel bearings. Since the Arrma outer wheel bearings are the same size as Corally uses exclusively, i buy multiple sets at a time. For motors i always buy metal shielded SKF bearings from local suppliers. They are usually around 4€ a piece and can handle upto 80000rpm. After a couple of tries, i found that i can use plastic shielded bearings for motors without problems. They are rated upto 40000rpm, so I only use those in a 1520 motor, SKF does not have the right size for in metal shielded bearings. I do take the plastic shields off, to put some bearing grease in there. That makes them last a considerably longer time. I soak the motor bearings in oil for a while, before i use them.
 
Niekname said:
For me in the EU I can find multiple specialized bearing sellers that sell SKF for less then €1 a piece and others like ZEN for even less. But they are mostly catered to businesses so minimum quantities and/or processing fees make it expensive for me with 1 car. I just posted a question about this in the Arrmaforum and I got recommended modellbau-werkstatt.at which sells kits for a lot of models, at roughly €0,95 per bearing. I will probably go with that or I might try these AliExpress bearings.
Click to expand...
JLCPCB is selling their bearings at "indusry" prices but their whole "thing" is selling stuff to hobbyists and small businesses. Their main business is manufacturing PCBs including populating the components in small runs at reasonable prices.

I had a run of 16 of these made and it cost me around $70 and that includes the cost for populating the components. (these are two versions with different 5V regulator chips so it was two separate runs of 16)

servo_breakout_4_8_001.webp
 
That’s pretty cool, haven’t had to replace any bearings so far know it’s coming. Something I need to get spares so when it’s time I’m not down and out waiting
 
Dr. Rudder from the Rotorflight discord told me about this store (he is the lead Rotorflight developer)

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256803539912710.html

He said they're extremely good bearings and he use them in his helicopters.

I immediately noticed that the 8x16x5's I ordered were all super smooth, no "slightly gritty" ones and they can tolerate preload shimming well without becoming very draggy. They've also survived the first bash session without getting loose or gritty.
 
They may be perfect for the diffs.
For the wheels, i buy the cheapest i can find on Ali Express. Usually in batches of 100 pcs.
Otherwise, with multiple 6s cars, bearing swaps can become expensive.
 
SirCrashALot said:
They may be perfect for the diffs.
For the wheels, i buy the cheapest i can find on Ali Express. Usually in batches of 100 pcs.
Otherwise, with multiple 6s cars, bearing swaps can become expensive.
Click to expand...
I've been wondering if maybe bearings are the wrong thing for the wheels on a basher, maybe PTFE lined precision brass bushings with rubber seals around the axle would hold up better.
 
I think bushings work great in slow moving parts like the steering posts. I am not sure they are any good for wheels
 
SirCrashALot said:
I think bushings work great in slow moving parts like the steering posts. I am not sure they are any good for wheels
Click to expand...
You might be surprised at how durable self lubricating brass bushings are in high speed applications. My brother has a metal lathe made back in the 1940's that uses oilite bushings (sintered bronze). Precision solid bushings actually have less runout than rolling element bearings but the tolerances are less forgiving.

In our case, maybe a PTFE bushing and fixed PTFE sleeve on the axle with a rubber seal on either side to keep dirt from getting between the axle sleeve and the bushing might work.
 
SirCrashALot said:
I think bushings work great in slow moving parts like the steering posts. I am not sure they are any good for wheels
Click to expand...
I know the bushings work better in the steering for me. I used to complain about Arrma using bushings at the steer posts on 6s rigs, until I switched over to bearings.. then I realized that the bearings are more prone to seizing than bushings. IDK about wheel hubs though.
 
KnowAir said:
I know the bushings work better in the steering for me. I used to complain about Arrma using bushings at the steer posts on 6s rigs, until I switched over to bearings.. then I realized that the bearings are more prone to seizing than bushings. IDK about wheel hubs though.
Click to expand...
I tried bearings in the Arrma steering posts once.
I did not notice much improvement.
They seized far too quickly and are a pain to get to, so i put the bushings back in.
In fact, i am thinking of putting bushings in my Corally's steering assemblies.
 
Back
Top